DISCLAIMER: This is not a guide to necessarily follow word for word. This is just my experiences and opinions. This is what worked for me.

**UPDATE** I have quit the game as shown in this Goodbye Thread. Good luck everyone. ^_^

This journal is just a recap of what I did to make it to level 75 as a Taru Monk. The life of a Monk is not the easiest and you need patience, picking Taru as a race makes it that much more difficult.

Many people seem to discriminate against MNK's in general. We are not "big bang" damage dealers. We are DoT (Damage over Time). Because there are so many other "big bang" DD's like RNG, DRK, BLM, etc., many people (especially at lower levels) assume that we do not benefit a party as much as these others. As you grow and get into higher levels, people will have more respect for you as a MNK and see what you can bring to the table providing you are properly equipped and properly skilled.

As a Taru, you have some of the weakest beginning game stats for a MNK. The key ones being STR and MND. A Tarutaru MNK starting as a level 1 has 6 STR, where others have 7 or 8. This margin grows as you get higher level and will need to compensate with equipment. As level 70 with a WAR sub, I had 60 STR (unmodified). With my gear, I had +27 (not including food) for a total of 87 STR. At level 74, I had 64 base with WAR sub and +59 (not including food).

This was a long haul for me. I had to learn how to maximize all my abilities and gear to the fullest to get to where I am and be able to put up the numbers as other races. Being a Taru Monk can be extremely rewarding however. Seeing a little guy get in there and do some serious DMG with the awesome Taru fighting animations, is really nice. The weaponskill animations are great, especially Dragon Kick and Asuran Fists and hearing a young childish voice going "Ha", "Hai", etc is hilarious.

No matter what, no taru melee should ever give it up. If you love it, do it, regardless of what many people think. It's all about having fun after all. {Tarutaru} {Power}

II Statistics and Attributes

The following stats and attributes are most important for MNK's to be concerned about (not in a specific order):

1) STR (Strength): STR is of interest for any race, but more so for Taru and Mithra. Higher STR = Higher DMG (Damage). STR effects us in these ways:

2) ATT (Attack): ATT directly will push your DMG to a higher consistency rate. ATT can cap out and at that point you will need to up your STR to compensate and raise the ceiling. But the chance of capping ATT is not likely.

3) DEX (Dexterity): DEX is a very hot and debatable topic, so I won't go into too much detail on it. However, we do know this:

* Increases chance of critical * It seems that most likely (or close to it) 2 DEX = 1 ACC since 2 STR = 1 ATT and 2 VIT = 1 DEF, however, this is not 100% confirmed since we cannot see the raw ACC stat.

4) ACC (Accuracy): ACC is imperative as you get to higher levels and the mobs become more evasive. @LV 40 you really start gaining more access to better +ACC items that will greatly help you in your 50+'s.

5) MND (Mind): MND is only important at end game levels. MND will directly raise the DMG of each Chi Blast. Eventually, there will be certain NM/HNM/God's that will not take much DMG from normal melee attacks. This is where we come in and Boost like crazy and fire off a Chi Blast at them. Chi Blast DMG can be easily from 1000-1600 on 1 hit. That is every 3 minutes for the cool down.

For more information on these stats and calculations for Monks, see one of my posts:

I do believe there is a lot of skill involved. But gear weighs heavily in how well you do as a MNK. Since we are pure fighting machines, higher DMG boosting equipment is going to give us higher DMG output. Just that simple. A player with high skill that does not have enough +ACC equipment, is still going to miss a lot on high evasive mobs. A player with great gear but low skill may do a lot of DMG, but may also get himself/herself and his/her party killed, besides messing up XP/hr ratios.

Now that I have stated my ideas on Statistics and Attributes and what I focused on, I will jump to what I did for equipment. This is relatively standard at the lower levels with the exception of using the Wonder (Tarutaru RSE) set.

NOTE: I got the Happy Egg twice during both Easter's I was in the game and threw them both a week after I got them by mistake. >.< I used Pebbles for when I was XPing and pulling, I would alternate between Chi Blast and Pebbles and I was still able to pull at least chain 5-6's. Tiphia Sting just recently came out and there is nothing better I could find for a MNK in the ammo slot.

NOTE: Federation Kyahan and Wonder Clomps is a switch-off, I tried both and to see how I would do, I recall keeping both depending on the mob. As well, I actually kept my Kung Fu Shoes until I got Creek Clomps, but I used Temple Gaiters here and there. Fuma's for hastey ^_^.

NOTE: Even when I got Wonder Mitts at 27, I held onto my Battle Gloves for situations where ACC was a bit of an issue. I actually received my Ochiudo's Kote at level 37 as a drop from Mee Deggi the Punisher in Castle Oztroja. I keep my Temple Gloves for swapping on for Boosts and replaced my Kote at level 61, when I noticed diminishing returns, with Pallas's. I also have tested between Melee Gloves and Alkyoneus's Bracelets and I still see more DMG with the bracelets over my relic gloves, but I keep them to swap on for my Chakra macro. Bandomusha's from Xolotl before I quit, love them!

NOTE: I kept Republic Subligar and Wonder Braccae and swapped off for certain situations. Melee Hose did work well for me on extra Kick Attacks DMG, but once I get some divine logs, I will be using Shura's Haidate. Currently switching between Byakko's Haidate and Shura Haidate, depending on situation.

NOTE: I got my Brown Belt at 47 after catching Morlbolger and I keep my Life Belt on my and swap it on when I am dealing with a mob I am whiffing at. Thanks to Aspido before I quit, I have my Black Belt, which is teh bestest!

NOTE: When I first started playing, I thought of the traditional Monk and didn't think I needed a weapon (lol newb), but very quickly I learned how much DMG, I was losing out on and got my first pair @ level 5. Also, I only use Shiva's Claws and Stun Jammies for certain situations. Working on upgrading to Spharai, still have a good ways to go.

FYI: Do not bother with Tropical Punches. They are a waste, especially for a Taru. Their DMG is horrible and I wouldn't recommend experimenting with 0 delay weapons until 75 when other gear is available to make up for DMG and the addition of critical hit %.

IV Leveling Locations

So now that you have seen the gear I have used, I will provide where exactly I leveled at and when. Leveling as a Taru Monk is pretty fun for the most part. Taru's have the lowest HP than other races, but being a MNK, you might still have more HP than a normal melee. I know that at my level, I usually have the most HP in a party.

However, my AGI (Agility) is not too high and certainly neither is my VIT, so therefore, hits are going to happen and that extra HP does keep me alive most of the time. Although, I have died from a few far-away pulls unfortunately.

So below are the locations I have leveled at throughout my Monk career thus far:

This is not saying there aren't alternative locations, because there are plenty. But this is the path I have gone. The worst was Robber Crabs during the 50's in Kuftal Tunnel, Boyahda Tree, and Cape Terrigan. Their DEF buffs are a nightmare for a MNK.

Overall though, I have contributed pretty well to every XP party I have been in. Granted, MNK's cannot participate in Distortion until 60, I was still able to do some great skillchains with other players. Once you get to 65 and get your Hand-to-Hand skill to 225, you receive Dragon Kick. This is one of the best WS for SC's IMO. You get to participate in 2-3 person level 3 Light SC's which are awesome, especially against bones!

V Subjobs

When I first purchased the game back in November 2003, I had bought the Brady Games Strategy Guide - 2003 Fall Edition with it. Probably one of the biggest mistakes I ever made in the game. In the book it had mentioned subjobs for Monks. One of the SJ's it listed was RDM and how cool and different it would be. So of course, coming from a Cleric/Fighting Mage type player of other RPG's I thought they were right and it would be a good idea (lol newb again!).

So once, I hit level 18 and got my Damselfly Worm, Magicked Skull, and Crab thingy, I was able to get a subjob. The first sub I leveled was RDM. I leveled it up to 15 and started subbing it for my MNK. It was horrible. I gave it a try for about 8 or 9 levels when I finally said, I have had enough. I maybe had enough MP for 3 cures and my DMG was weak and pathetic, especially being Taru.

In my head, I knew Warrior was the best choice, but because I wanted to try different things, I decided to next level PLD (lol newb x's 3). Why PLD? I really don't know. I totally blocked out the majority of by newbness on this one. I think I thought it might have been neat to have extra DEF and cures or something like that. Well, it was terrible. Utterly horrible. Just awful.

Moving right along... So, I started to level my WAR, which is what I should have done from the beginning. Sheesh, I don't know what I was thinking. Subbing WAR is an absolute requirement for Taru. We need the additional stats and abilities that WAR provides more than anything else. Besides, how can you beat Berserk and Double Attack alone? So I was now using WAR from that point.

There was a time in my 50's where I saw many high level MNK's subbing NIN, but I was unclear why. So, I leveled up my NIN and decided to give it a shot. Utsusemi is so cool. Well, that SJ sucked as well for XP situations. It was nice for pulling and for when I stole hate. But it was not giving me the DMG I wanted and the Dual-wield ability was just a waste since I used Hand-to-hand.

So I just stuck with WAR at that point, and that is really all I am using now. On occasion, I do sub THF in some parties, especially if I know I am closing a 3 man Light SC with Dragon Kick. My highest in Den of Rancor was Dragon Kick for 1089 DMG and closing Light for an additional 1568 DMG. But still, I don't do as much DMG per fight as I do with WAR. Plus TP build up is great with Double Attack and Kick Attacks.

Other subjobs I have are:

* WHM: Extra MND for Chi Blasting and heals/buffs. * NIN: Great for soloing with Utsusemi. Also good for Dynamis and Sky farming. * SAM: Fun for playing around with. But not that great. Useful for certain HNM's that need to go down quickly and you need to produce mad TP for WS spamming.

VI Food

I believe that taking certain Foods are imperative for good DMG. I would consider food to be an extension of my gear, because really, it is.

Meat Mithkabobs & Meat Chiefkabobs are great for what they offer, but ever since the update in December '04, the ATT % was nerfed as you get into higher levels. So I mostly use these for doing quests and helping people with AF and so forth. Now, Sis Kebabi is truly the way to go for quick run-of-the-mill food, in my opinion.

Yellow Curry is really nice. It gives a higher ATT% than kabobs plus 20HP to boot. As well, this food is expensive but lasts 3 hours and is perfect for parties with a BRD where you can get Blade Madrigal. Just make sure they the party is going to stick around for a while before eating this, otherwise it will be a waste.

Bison Steak is a bit better than Yellow Curry as it adds 1 more STR, where Curry adds 1 more AGI. But really good food too.

Sole Sushi is an option. However, you will be taking a blow to total DMG per hit. This is not a requirement, but can certainly help you out in areas where your ACC is really hurting. But it is a drug, like crack rock. Don't get dependant on it and hit weak all the time! :-P

Hedgehog Pie is great stuff. I don't know the exact stats, but it boosts my ATT higher than any other food I have eaten, also gives me 6 STR and like 50 HP. It is awesome. Just a rare food. Definitely the winner for Taru MNK's prior to merit parties IMO.

Recently, my g/f started making Dragon Steak and Dragon Soup and wow. That stuff packs a punch. If you can try it, go for it. It is yummmmmmy.

Currently for merits, I use Red Curry, it is by far the best food ever. Especially great for KRT where ACC should not be an issue on VT bones.

VII Getting a Party

This is horrendously difficult for most MNK's. But as a Taru MNK, it's even worse. From 15-45 especially, I would be laughed at, called a newb (which I still was for the most part), called every dirty word you can think of. I had people refuse outright to party with me.

<<Player {Hello!} {Monk} {Looking for Party} {Do you need it?} Player>> Taru Monk? Hahahahahahahah, you stupid newb, ask me again when you are a Galka or Elvaan.

That pretty much sums up what I saw. It was pretty difficult. So after a while, I just started parties with Koolaid/WHM (My gf IRL) and we went from there. Even starting my own party, I had many people leave the party as soon as they got in and saw I was Taru. Why the hate?

Well, every player that had partied with me, would party with me again. They saw that if you adjust your equipment properly, a Taru MNK can be just as good as any other race. However, I still get some of this racism. Not nearly as bad, because at higher levels, they have to realize I must have done somewhat well to make it.

It is also a good idea, to know who you are partying with and what you can do. Skillchain knowledge is essential. I use the following Renkei chart for my SC's:

It is also important to keep certain items on you for any kind of situation:

1) Scroll of Instant Warp/Warp Cudgel/Trick Staff II: It is important to be able to warp yourself back to town from wherever you are for a party or from leaving a party.

2) Silent Oils/Prism Powders: I always say that if you aren't a mage, don't expect Sneak and Invisible. Always be prepared.

3) Potions/Au Laits/Icarus Wing: Good to have for emergency situations.

4) Meds (Antidotes/Echo Drops/etc): Not an absolute requirement for XPing, but nice to have around when the mages are fiddling around.

5) Food: Always keep food with you in case you go XP out of the blue or need it for a quest/mission or something like that.

VIII Farming

Farming as a Taru MNK is really not too bad. We do have less HP and VIT so it can make farming at tougher areas a little rough. I also sub THF when I farm for Gilfinder, Treasure Hunter, Flee, Mug and Steal. It may require some resting in some areas like Sanctuary of Zitah. Even though all of those Goobbues are Too weak to be worthwhile (TWTBW) to me, I still need to rest periodically because they hit pretty hard and Chakra is only every five minutes.

But even being Taru, I am still a MNK. So I can kill mobs relatively quickly and survive pretty well. Unfortunately, many times, I have died farming. But that is due to my own stupidity of not resting when I should to try and make that extra cheese.

Level 01-10: Didn't really farm much during these levels and I don't think you will need to either. Gear is still very cheap and from the crystals and misc drops you will get from leveling, that should be adequate.

Level 11-20: I did some farming here. Since I started in San d'Oria, I farmed in East Ronfaure and West Ronfaure for Crystals, Sheepskin and Shrooms.

Level 21-30: At these levels I did most of my farming in La Thienne Plateau, basically the same items as Ronfaure, also Beehive chips and honey.

Level 31-40: Yughott Grotto and Giddeus was where I was. Farming the same old stuff for the most part. Plus, I try to farm in areas where mobs give gil, like Orcs, Yagudos, Goblins, etc.

Level 41-50: Started farming in Sauromogue Champaign. That place is a goldmine and I still occasionally farm there. Cockatrice Meat, Lizard Skin, Raptor skin, Coeurl Whiskers and Meat. All good stuff that sells pretty well. Plus you can get crystals and gil there too. Make sure to steal once in a while from Tabar Beaks, they give Giant Bird Feathers.

Level 51-60: Here is when I really started farming a lot in Sanctuary of Zi'Tah. This place is great except for when the gil sellers are all over the place. I just strictly farmed Goobbue's for Tree Cuttings and Boyahda Moss. Just watch out for Keeper of Halidom, he is a very hard NM if you are 65 or lower.

Level 61-75: Still farm in Zi'Tah and Sauromogue, but I also was farming in Labyrinth of Onzozo. Between Gobs, Scorpions and Cockatrice, you can make a killing there. Another place I farm now is Castle Oztroja. If you can bring a Healer/THF with you, you can go after the Yags on the top floor and steal gold beastcoins and well as getting gil and scroll drops.

At this point, I don't do too much farming. The majority of my money comes from BCNM/ENM's.

1) I entered BC Naked. (There is a rumor that whatever stat bonuses you have from your gear when you enter, Maat receives them as well. Rumor is not confirmed, but it could help.)2) Equipped up 3) Ate Yellow Curry 4) Equip Opo-opo Necklace and take 4 Sleeping potions in a row (Each sleeping potion will give you 25% TP) 5) Equip blink band and take Persikos au lait. 6) Start boosting up 7) After 3 boosts use my blink band and re-equip Tiger Mask 8) After 10 boosts, Dodge and Focus, then lock-target on Maat 9) Quickly pop Hundred Fists and Chi Blast Maat 10) Run in and quickly Dragon Kick (Less TP than Raging Fists for Maat to start) 11) Icarus Wing 12) Raging Fists 13) Chakra 14) Take Vile-Elixir +1 15) TP should be up to 100 rather quickly, Raging Fists 16) Dead Maat. I paralyzed him 6 times in battle.

I survived with 801 HP left.

An example of an item macro would be the following:

/item "Icarus Wing" <me>

Another note I would like to mention about this fight, is that the first time I tried to take him @ 70, but Hand-to-Hand and Evasion was not capped. After I XPed for a while and got both capped, that is when I fought him. I did notice a difference. So I would recommend making sure both skills are capped. Don't even bother wasting your time with Guard. It will take you months and months to get it capped.

X Asuran Fists

So I got to 71 and decided to visit my old MNK friend Oggbi in the Port Bastok restaurant. I spoke with him and he gave me my Knuckles of Trial, which really isn't that bad of a weapon. So I began to skill up on them. I needed a total of 300 points, 1 point for a WS, 3 points for a LV2 SC, and 5 points for a LV3 SC. I had to get these points on EP mobs and up so I couldn't just farm normally to skill up.

With the help of Billthecat and Hightone on Caitsith, I was able to get 300 points. When I got the 300 points, I noticed the latent effect missing from my stats. To verify, I took off my weapon and put it back and saw no change. So, I proceeded back to Oggbi and traded him my Knuckles of Trial. Then he informed me I had to beat an NM to finish the quest.

The NM is in the bones family and he is a force pop in Bostaunieux Oubliette. So I went there and went to the drop down. I took a Silent Oil before dropping because there are still mobs that are EP to me down there. Then I proceeded to I-8 where there is a trap-door and dropped down again. After that, I went to the ??? in a room where there were 3-4 Bloodsuckers. My PT went and killed the Bloodsuckers since they would aggro us with no sneak up and it was a good TP builder.

Once the area was clear and mages were rested, I clicked on the ??? and popped the NM. He was somewhat tough. I had both a NIN and a PLD with me, but I kept getting the hate since MNK's own bones type mobs. He hit me hard, roughly 200-250 DMG per hit. He also has an AoE drain, which can restore a lot of his life back. So I don't recommend bringing a full alliance, since that could mean he would restore the majority of his health. I brought 8 with me.

Towards the end of the fight the WHM had to use Benediction to get us all full and we defeated him. The WHM had died from that, but she was using Reraise II, so only lost 600 XP.

I went back to Oggbi, spoke to him and learned the WS, Asuran Fists. Asuran Fists is simply amazing for Tarutaru. We do the 8 hits, then jump on the mobs face and backflip off of it. It looks so awesome and when I was farming every since AF was at least 1050 DMG without buffs or food.

It is truly a lovely sight.

XI Chi Blasting

I am now quite a bit more experienced with Chi Blasting and have fought all the sky NM's and gods.

Some of the more veteran MNK's I have talked to have told me it gets boring after while. But, I love it. I love the fact that I can participate in these battles. They are organized and *everyone* in the alliance has to work together like a well oiled machine to beat the NM.

My first time Chi Blasting in sky was actually against Faust, which is one of the NM's that drops pop items. I was up with my HNMLS farming and we saw that Faust was up, so we got organized and pull him to our camp. Faust is an NM, that has DEF similar to the sky gods in which normal melee attacks really do nothing to him except boost his TP. So we had our mages, RNG's and myself going after him. We defeated him pretty quickly actually. My average DMG with Chi Blast was around 650 or so. But I was still new to it and a couple of times I was afraid to wait for that 12th Boost thinking it would wear off before I got the Chi Blast in.

Fighting Gods was really an experience and any MNK who gets to 70+ really needs to do this.

I do not use Devotee's Mitts. A veteran MNK recommended I keep my Temple Gloves on because he believes like other MNK AF gear, that once you remove the piece of gear, the bonus goes away. I believe he is right. Granted, the ATT number does not change, but I have seen first hand that my DMG is higher when I keep my Temple Gloves on instead of swapping on my Devotee's Mitts.

Also, in both my first Suzaku fights, I had a BRD in PT and she was playing both Spirited Etude and Logical Etude for me and it helped a lot. I remember after both songs and all my goodies, my MND was around 129 at the time.

Now after taking another recommendation, I have altered my Boosting macros, and now I can get in 12 Boosts. This is what I use:

/ja "Boost" <me> /wait 15 /ja "Boost" <me> /wait 13 /echo NEXT MACRO

I have 6 macros for this. I know this sounds kind of weird, but it helps a lot in the heat of the battle. You can also keep track of the number of boosts you have done easily and it also helps me have less of a chance of not executing the next macro in time.

I now macro the actual Chi Blast. On my 6th macro, I added a /wait 1 then /ja "Chi Blast" <t>. I make sure when I am on the 6th macro that I am in radius of the mob so I am close enough to Chi. I always get 12 boosts in now.

Remember, the Boost effect only lasts 3 minutes. Boost cooldown is 15 seconds. Therefore 12 boosts = 2mins and 45 secs. Which, if you time your boosts right, you will have 10-15 seconds to get your Chi Blast off before the Boost effect wears off. It is not possible to get 13 boosts as once you hit the 13th, boost will wear and your Chi Blast will be caca.

Another thing to watch out for is Shadowbind. I messed up once and Chi Blasted when SB was up on Suzaku during his 2hr. If I see the mob is SB'ed, I will stay out of range so even if my macro triggers, the Chi will not go through. It sucks to lose a fully boosted Chi, but it sucked even more to have people killed because you unbound him.

Also, I have an extra macro that will equip my Earth Staff and Genbu's Kabuto after the Chi Blast for when I take hits from pulling hate. This might help alot. :)

XII Dynamis

Dynamis is definitely a very fun time for a MNK. I personally sub NIN or WHM for when I go because I have learned it is more about survivability in there. Really, just punch away while in there.

Make sure Auto-Target is off! You don't want to start punching statues as that will give them TP and the mages should be handling those. Not only should you turn it off via your config settings, but also type in the chat line "/autotarget off".

It is also a good idea (and usually a requirement for most shells) to use an /assist macro for the main tank in your Alliance. This is crucial because as many mobs link in there, mages may be sleeping them, and you don't want to wake those sleeping mobs up. Waking them up when you shouldn't could result in utter disaster.

If XP is a concern, don't go. You have a 70-90% chance of dying at some point and you may only get a Raise I. That is just how it works. You could bring a Hi-Reraiser potion or a Reraise Hairpin on you which is equivalent to a Raise II. But don't *ever* beg for a Raise III or cry about lost XP. Most likely, you will not make friends in doing so and possibly get booted.

That's pretty much it. Chi Blasting statues really sucks, so I find it to be a waste of time. Just WS where you can, keep blink up and don't aggro mobs. Follow the tank and don't flood party chat with all your macros. /echo everything!

So one night, I obtained my first Merit Point. I dropped that bad boy into Hand-to-Hand. It raised it from 276 -> 278. From the looks of it, I can only put a total of 9 points into this category, so that is a total of 18 Hand-to-Hand points I can get above my level 75 cap. Sounds good to me!

Next I plan on upping Critical Hit Percentage and then Kick Attacks. Stats, I am going to leave for the end as I am still not sure if I want to raise STR or MND. I guess I will think about it more when I get further down the road with merit points. That won't be for a while.

After thinking about it more, I may just do Kick Attacks. With my Dune Boots and relic pants, I kick like nuts. I would love to add to that.

Due to how new the newest merits are, I haven't really formed an opinion on what order to put those in. They all look interesting, but lack of experience and testing with them, it is hard to say how helpful they will be. Only time will tell. :)

XIV Screenshots

Due to several PM's here on Alla, I decided to add some screenshots to this thread. These pics should be up as long as Photobucket.com let's me keep them there. :-)

From my experience, an ideal bones party would consist of the following:

MNK/WAR MNK/WAR MNK/WAR SMN/WHM BRD/WHM RDM/BLM

I have tried with 4 MNK's and that is too much. 3 MNK's seems perfect. Why SMN and not a WHM? 2 words. Spring Water.

Spring Water not only performs a Curaga on the party (without giving the SMN hate), but it also does an AoE Paralyna, which is very useful because of stupid Ice Spikes.

Now, having a BRD and a RDM really works well. Basically, your party should never be camping, it should strictly be a roaming party. With that, a BRD can pull with Finale (Dispels Ice Spikes) or Requiem. For me, I have the BRD do double minuet (attack bonus) for the MNK's and double ballad (refresh) for the mages. It works really well. Now the RDM can toss in dispels if needed as well as some nukes and cures here and there. Between the RDM and BRD, your SMN should never run out of MP. So you can keep going and going and getting crazy chains.

You will want to be killing Spartoi Warrior's, Spartoi Sorcerer's, Hati's, and the dreaded Lemures. Between those mobs, you should be able to keep the chain going and continue running in a circle. Just do not head towards the Vrtra room.

Edited, Jun 29th 2010 10:15am by DJSlyde

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AbbadonX wrote:

You're still the king, Slyde. The original inspiration, the immortal breaker of limitations.

Very nice guide ^^ You helped me want to be a mnk a while back, but I got called back to bst :p I will go back though, once I can afford the gear I want. One question though... what weapon do you like best for taru? I see you put Shiva's claw in there, and if I remember...that weapon has low damage. Was the +acc really needed that much (and since Sushi is out now)? I don't want to start to exp mnk until I have the money to buy my gear now (things on Fairy seem to rise very quickly..so getting items now before later is the best thing to do)

Shiva's Claws are completely situational. I only used them if I was seriously whiffing at a mob or I was fighting Maat. That is pretty much it. Maybe if I had them on me, I would use them while farming on Iceday. But that's the extent. Spartan's are the way to go until you can get a hold of Indra's or Avengers.

____________________________

AbbadonX wrote:

You're still the king, Slyde. The original inspiration, the immortal breaker of limitations.

Great post. I've been playing FFXI for about eight months, and I've spent 99% of my gaming career as a mage. I switched over to a few melee jobs so I could farm crystals, and I loved playing Monk. There's something awesome about watching a taru punching things to death.

I haven't headed out for the dunes yet -- although that's coming up soon -- but it's good to see a Lv 75 taru role model for the job.

Great guide, Slyde. I just wanted to point out that the merit cap for Hand-to-hand is actually 6 rather than 9. You can use 9 total in the category but only 6 Max for a single attribute (Total of 12 skill levels). I have 6 h2h and 3 evasion. lol

After bouncing around from job class to job class for a while [other than keeping with RDM], I found MNK to be an absolute blast to play and I really love it. Your guide is a wonderful read and I find myself scrolling through it quite often for little tidbits of info. Very helpful and informative. ^^ Thanks for taking the time and effort to write it [and your other great guides].

That's a nice guide, I've leveled my monk fast to lv 48 within few weeks and often refered on this equip guide being taru myself as well. Been absolutely LOVING monk. I have a question though:

I am level 48 monk, O-kote has been great for me. However, E.Braceletss at lv. 50 seems great, especially since T.M. Hooks +2 will give a nice attack boost as well. So what'd be everyone's take on taru monk ( and we need STR); stick on o-kote, or get E.braceletts? Thanks :)

I wanted to give a big thank you to Slyde! I've been following your excellent guide the last few weeks and i have to say i love it! So far i've really enjoyed mnk and look forward to many more lvls to come. ^^

Great guide^^ I have been using it since I started Mnk. Thank you for making this for all Mnks, taru or not out there. I'm now 68, I would like to recommend Vishnu's Cesti. I have been using these, and though I hit for a little less, I still hit for 20-50 on Catoblepas in Bibiki Bay, and TP gain is pretty amazing. I use Bream Sushi for the VIT bonus for Dragon Kick(and 20k cheaper then sole... XD). I also wear an Amemet Mantle+1, so that may be why my damage is still good with it, and I can not comment if you didn't have the extra atk. I would just like to point them out as an alterative untill you can get one of the "ultimate" H2H weapons. ^^

Hey guys, thanks for the positive feedback. I actually haven't really played FFXI for about a month now, kind on a semi/perma break from it. But I see what you are saying slvrdrg, but. I really don't know if Vishnu's are that great pre-75. The only reason I say that, is for Taru we need as much STR/DMG as possible. But at 75, you should have access to some badass gear, plus you can start pegging out H2H with merits which help a great deal.

But if you are comfortable with them at 68, thats pretty cool. I never tried them until 75 myself. See if you can get your hands on Avengers, Destroyers, or Katars and compare dmg maybe.

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AbbadonX wrote:

You're still the king, Slyde. The original inspiration, the immortal breaker of limitations.

I really hope you come back, Slyde. You're an inspiration. I took a break for several months myself, and have recently come back. Posts like this make me want to try Taru melee just for the fun of seeing a little guy kicking serious ****.

I must say Slyde you have an impressive backstory, I for one respect all Taru Melee. I mean your a back flipping Taru that kicks so much ***. You certainly have put alot of work into this and I have to say thank you putting the time to make this, its a nice read and it Im sure it inspires many up and coming MNKs.

I know Im a Galka but that isnt to say havent felt the grudges that you speak of. I have never been turned down a pt because of my race, but I have because of my job. Personally I believe that race means nothing but what you want to stare at for hours a day. I think equipment and skill play a very important role into how good of a MNK you are.

Anyways Im getting off topic, Im new to the endgame phase of FFXI as a MNK and I hope to accomplish the things that you have, Peace Out Slyde The Mighty!!

I really appreciate everyones feedback. I haven't really updated this too much, but like I said, it is not necessarily a guide. Although, you could use it as one, it just explains what I did and what I went through to make it. But if it has helped anyone, that makes me feel very good. Thanks. :)

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AbbadonX wrote:

You're still the king, Slyde. The original inspiration, the immortal breaker of limitations.

A quick note: A cheaper, better alternative to Avengers are Wagh Baghkas or however they are spelled. They have a hidden effect of ATK+14 which is active 100% of the time (4 more than avengers), lower delay, and the latent damage effect (equal damage to avengers) is active while under 100TP and during WS. I can't say how much they are on all servers obviously but they are only 10K on gilgamesh, and are IMO, the best H2H weapon just behind Destroyers and Relic. I still don't have my Destoyers unlocked, so these are what I am using in the meantime.

Great post, I've read it atleast 3 times now, (each time I get the hankerin to try something new lol) and I want to do this too! Being a taru pld, I also got the shaft for a while, people thinking we suck as melee... But we prove them wrong every day we pt with them.

I hope this post will inspire some taru mnks to get out there and show Vanadiel true TaruTaru power^^

Since many people read this now, I am considering putting in an AF section. I never really thought about it before, but I suppose it might help some people. Other than that, some of you might like to know that my break is over and I am back. I am currently making a new HNMLS and trying to rekindle the fun in the game for me.

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AbbadonX wrote:

You're still the king, Slyde. The original inspiration, the immortal breaker of limitations.

In my opinion, one of the most well thought out post's in the mnk forum. thank you for taking your time researching and posting all of this, it has helped me personally a great deal as a Taru Mnk, props and Rate up!